Rishi Sunak meets British forces in Estonia and attends Baltic Sea Summit | Foreign Policy

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Rishi Sunak will meet UK forces in Estonia and Nordic and Baltic leaders at a summit on countering Russian aggression, where he will say the leaders must maintain or exceed their murderous support for Ukraine and their political backing.

Monday’s meeting will come after news emerged that the British prime minister had unnerved some in Whitehall by requesting a “Goldman Sachs dashboard” on the progress of the war and how British military supplies were being used, according to the BBC.

Sunak will try to reaffirm his commitment to supporting Ukraine’s war effort. He will announce that the UK will supply hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition to Kyiv next year in a £250m contract as part of the military aid package, which already includes missile systems and anti-aircraft guns.

The prime minister will travel to Latvia for a meeting of leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries, including Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands, which will address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“From the Arctic Circle to the Isle of Wight, the UK and our European allies have been well on top of our response to the invasion of Ukraine, and we remain steadfast in our ambition for peace in Europe once more,” Sunak said before the conference visit.

But to achieve peace, we must deter aggression, and our deployment across the region together is vital to ensuring that we can respond to the most serious threats. I know that this joint expeditionary force summit will only underscore our close friendships and our unwavering support for Ukraine.”

No. 10 said that the meeting will also discuss intelligence exchange between fund countries, threats to infrastructure and mixed threats posed by Russian aggression and strengthening support for Finland and Sweden before they join NATO. More joint military exercises are also expected to be announced.

Sunak is then expected to fly to Estonia, where he will meet UK and NATO forces serving on the military alliance’s eastern flank on the Russian border.

Ukrainian military figures have renewed their efforts in recent days to appeal to the West for more weapons to regain the initiative against Russia, after a string of victories in the east of the country but with both sides halting and Russian missile attacks targeting cities and vital infrastructure.

A source told the BBC that Sunak had recently requested a data-driven assessment of the progress of the war and the significance of UK military contributions to Ukraine, suggesting there were tensions in the British government over the current lethal aid strategy.

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Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Chief of the Defense Staff, told the Royal United Services Institute last week that the Ukrainians would be dependent on more arms supplies.

“Extraordinary times call for an extraordinary response. This explains why Russia is losing. The free world is winning… Provided we maintain our unity and resolve, true victory within our grasp is even more important,” he said.

The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Valery Zalogny, said more supplies would be necessary for further gains. We need tanks, we need armored personnel carriers [armoured personnel carriers]infantry fighting vehicles. We need ammunition.”

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